"CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday that he had named former housing minister Ramon Carrizales as his new vice president, part of a major cabinet reshuffling after a stinging poll defeat last month.

Carrizales will replace Jorge Rodriguez, blamed by many Chavez supporters for the loss of a December referendum that would have allowed the president to run for re-election indefinitely.

In a phone call to state television, Chavez said he would make 13 changes in the cabinet, but said he could not yet reveal most of them.

He said it was important to reach out to the middle classes and other sectors of society often alienated by his pro-poor policies. "We are not extremists," he said.

Rodriguez was a combative figure the left-wing president brought in last year to oversee a wave of nationalizations in Chavez's drive toward a socialist economy.

The proposed reform shot down by voters would have given Chavez sweeping powers to create a socialist state.

In the past few days, Chavez has softened his frequently strident tone, appearing to accept common criticism about failures in basis services like trash collection and policing."